Norris served as the PC MLA for Edmonton McClung and Economic Development Minister from 2001 until 2004. In the 2004 provincial election, Norris was defeated by Alberta Liberal Mo Elsalhy.

Norris placed 6th in the 2006 Alberta Tory leadership race, garnering 6.9% of the vote and endorsed Ed Stelmach during the second round of voting.

"One of Canada's top experts on the Olympics questioned why Alberta needs a promoter, since enthusiasm for the Winter Games is already high here, and many Albertans are likely to visit the West Coast for the events without the government having to drum up interest.

"I don't think you have to. I think there's some motive going unexplained, to create a whole post for that," said Bob Barney, founding director of International Centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

He said Olympic host cities routinely name ambassadors, but he's never heard of a position like that in outside jurisdictions."

12 comments:

jonathan
said...

Does Alberta need a designated ambassador to the Olympics (for that matter, does any province need such an ambassador)?

I would believe that it would fall under the job description of one Hector Goudreau to be that representative at the Olympic games in 2010 if the Tories are still in power. I don't see a need to appoint an ambassador other than to serve as an overwhelming mechanism to boost Mr. Norris' already burgeoning ego.

Mark Norris is a dedicated public servant and one of the best MLAs that Edmonton's had in recent years. His defeat was a travesty and reflected very poorly on the voters of McClung. I'm sure that Mark will represent us PROUDLY at the Olympics and help boost our province's profile.

A word to the wise. Don't always believe what you read in a newspaper on watch on television. The media is in the business of selling papers, not reporting the news. If I was to believe everything Jason Fekete, Jason Markusoff, Graham Thomson, Rick Bell and Neil Waugh reported,Jim Dinning, or should I say Rod Love, would be Premier of Alberta today. Take it from someone who has been in the business for nearly twenty years, you will learn never to take the media too seriously.

torycrust said... Mark Norris is a dedicated public servant and one of the best MLAs that Edmonton's had in recent years. His defeat was a travesty and reflected very poorly on the voters of McClung. I'm sure that Mark will represent us PROUDLY at the Olympics and help boost our province's profile.

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Who is Dave Cournoyer? I am a writer, blogger, communicator, occasional media pundit, political watcher, & proud life-long Albertan. I studied Political Science at the University of Alberta and have served as Vice-President (External) of the U of A Students' Union, Chair of the Council of Alberta University Students, and communications coordinator for Alberta's official opposition party.